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The study will be carried out within the Planeto Team of IPAG in Grenoble. The Institute for Planetary sciences and Astrophysics of Grenoble (IPAG) of the Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA) is one of the three major research units of the Grenoble Observatory (OSUG). At IPAG, the planetary science team is studying the objects of the Solar System: mainly Mars, Icy satellites, Asteroids, Comets, TNO, and Meteorites. This research axis addresses the question of the origin of organics, volatiles, salts and minerals in the context of the pre-solar heritage, the Comet/Asteroid continuum, the composition and evolution of the surface and shallow subsurface and the internal structure of small bodies. The Planeto team is using radar instruments onboard planetary probes to fathom small bodies, satellites and planets, contributing to the whole life-cycle of a space mission from its definition to final data interpretation. This group led the CONSERT radar experiment on board Rosetta (ESA) and Philae (DLR/CNES), and is currently leading the JuRa radar under development for Juventas on board the HERA/ESA and RAMSES/ESA missions. The group is also involved in several past, present or future missions (MARSIS/Mex, SHARAD/MRO, RIME/JUICE and REASON/Clipper...).

In October 2024, the HERA mission has been launched to the binary asteroid Dydimos by the European Space Agency. So will be in 2028 for the RAMSES spacecraft to the destination of Apophis asteroid, which will skim the Earth in April 2029. These missions both embed a small size mono-static radar which will deeply probe for the first time the interior of asteroids.

The instrument scientist will be in charge of the radars mission analysis and in-flight science operations implementation. Based on spacecraft trajectory propositions coming from flight dynamics groups of each mission, the radar mission analysis consists in the simulation and estimation of the instrument performances while operating in-situ. The outcome of this work are the setting and observation slots definition. These preparatory evaluations lead to the implementation of the operations in-flight during science phase of HERA (January-March 2027), at the interface with the spacecraft control centers. The instrument scientist will be in charge of the follow-up of the execution of the in-flight operations and their validation and reporting.

The recruit is expected to become an expert in spaceborne radar techniques and participate to the development of additional radar signal processing methods, like auto-focus orbit correction.

https://ipag.osug.fr/